Agartala's turn to be hit by terror

NEW DELHI: Terror struck Tripura's capital Agartala on Wednesday evening when five bombs went off within 5 minutes in crowded market places and a bus stand. Two persons were confirmed dead.

Most victims were shopping on the eve of Eid ul Fitar, deputy inspector general of police Nepal Das told agencies. "At least two of the blasts were powerful," Das said, adding that the serial explosions were the first such attacks in Tripura.

The first blast went off at Radhanagar bus stand at around 7.30pm. Both the men who died were hit by this blast. Explosions in the other places followed in quick succession.

The other blasts were at the popular Gol Bazar and near-simultaneous blasts at the GB Market. The police official said that timer devises were used to trigger the explosions.

According to senior home ministry officials here, Tripura's two main insurgent groups, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), do not have a history of carrying out bomb attacks on civilians. However, they did not rule out a possible link between these two outfits with Bangladeshi terror groups like Huji.

"Tripura has a long border with Bangladesh and intelligence agencies point to the presence of senior leaders of both NLFT and ATTF in Bangladesh," a senior MHA official told, indicating that NLFT and ATTF may have offered logistical support to Huji.

Synchronised serial blasts are, however, new to Tripura, though there have been explosions by Ulfa in Assam in both 2006 and 2007. The Agartala attack rebuffs the theory that terror is unleashed only in places affected by communal disturbances. The Left-controlled Tripura has no history of communal conflicts.

Police sources, quoting eyewitnesses, said two persons riding a motorcycle were seen moving suspiciously at Radhanagar bus stand and the blast took place there three minutes after they left the area. Central intelligence agencies had on September 25 warned northeastern states of an impending terror attack and BSF officials here confirmed having received the input. The state was on alert for possible attacks ahead of Durga Puja and Dussehra.

"Some of the injured are in critical condition," Mr Das said. There was chaos after the blasts. People were out shopping when the explosions occurred. Many of the wounded were women. The Agartala is the latest in a series of terror attacks on different cities, starting with Bangalore more than a month ago. More than 125 people have been killed in total by recent blasts.

Last week, the Army had killed at least seven heavily armed militants of Huji in a gunbattle on the Assam border.